If the trend is confirmed, the wife of the ousted president Manuel Zelaya (2006-2009), at 62 years of age, will become the first woman to govern Honduras.
The leftist Xiomara Castro, from the Libertad y Refundación party, claimed victory in the presidential elections in Honduras with almost 20 points of advantage, when 42% of the votes were counted.
If the trend is confirmed, the wife of the ousted president Manuel Zelaya (2006-2009), at age 62, will become the first woman to govern Honduras, leaving the ruling party Nasry Asfura, of the National Party (PN, right) in the race. .
According to the National Electoral Council (CNE), Castro has so far obtained 53.52% of the votes counted, while Asfura reaches 33.95%. In third place is the candidate of the Liberal Party, Yani Rosenthal, with 9.20%.
“Good evening, we won,” Castro said in a public appearance in front of his supporters Sunday night, and promised a “government of reconciliation.”
“I reach out to my opponents because I have no enemies, I will call for a dialogue (…) with all sectors” of Honduras, he said.
Wait for official count
However, “no candidate or candidate can be declared the winner until the last act is processed,” warned the president of the CNE, Kelvin Aguirre, at a press conference.
In Tegucigalpa, the capital, fireworks were launched, while caravans of Castro supporters roamed the streets in various cities across the country.
Aguirre spoke of a “historic” participation of 62% of voters: 3.2 million citizens turned out to vote in elections without a ballot.
The winner will replace President Juan Orlando Hernández, of the PN, who ruled for two consecutive terms and ends his term amidst reports of drug trafficking from the United States.
For the ruling party, there was still hope.
“When the minutes enter the capital, it will be shown that the National Party with ‘Tito’ Asfura has once again won the electoral process,” the leader and candidate for deputy, Jorge Zelaya, commented at a rally.
The migration
Whoever wins the elections must assume a country hit by gang violence, drug trafficking and two fierce hurricanes that swept the nation in 2020, where 59% of its 10 million inhabitants live in poverty.
Unemployment went from 5.7% in 2019 to 10.9% in 2020, largely due to the coronavirus pandemic. All this pushes thousands of its citizens to try to migrate irregularly to the United States in search of work.
“Our commitment is to guarantee young people that here in their homeland they will find what they need to generate opportunities and well-being for their family. It is a guarantee and a promise that we have made, “said Castro.
The candidate consolidated her favoritism in the last stretch of the campaign and promotes a “democratic socialism” with an agenda that includes the legalization of abortion on grounds such as rape, and is open to discussing equal marriage, which has cost her than her rivals I call it “communist.”
“They want to bring many characteristics of Venezuela here to Honduras and we do not accept them,” said Rosa Díaz, a 26-year-old housewife, on Sunday.
“What communism, if here in Honduras the one who does not work does not eat? I’ve never lived for a party, ”said Guadalupe Rodríguez, a 54-year-old street food vendor, who voted for Castro.
In these elections, 128 deputies, 298 mayors and 20 representatives of the Central American Parliament are also elected.
Called to calm
The days before the elections revived fears of possible fraud, denounced by the opposition in 2017.
During the campaign, at least 31 people linked to the elections were killed, according to the Observatory of Violence of the National University. This raised incidents if one of the parties was unaware of the results.
Asfura, 63, and current mayor of Tegucigalpa, also came to these elections as the favorite. It was supported by a solidly organized party and the timely deliveries of government bonds to vulnerable families.
Both applicants called to vote in peace.
In 2017, Hernández was reelected despite allegations of fraud from the opposition. Protests repressed by the government that left about thirty dead.
“The people will not vote for Xiomara, but against Juan Orlando Hernández and what he represents,” had warned Raúl Pineda, a lawyer and former member of the National Party.
“Narcogovernments”
Washington is attentive to what happens in Honduras, Pineda estimated. He does not want a new crisis to encourage more waves of migration.
The PN has governed since the overthrow of Zelaya in 2009, in a coup supported by the right, due to its proximity to Chavismo.
But corruption and drug trafficking scandals have plagued Hernández. Tony, his brother, is serving a life sentence in the United States for drug trafficking. The drug traffickers that the president helped extradite to that country – and the prosecutors who prosecuted his brother – accused him of being involved in drug trafficking.
Asfura, meanwhile, was accused in 2020 of embezzling public funds and named in the Pandora Papers.
The third most preferred candidate of the 13 in the race, Yani Rosenthal (Liberal Party), spent three years in a United States jail for laundering drug money.
“Honduras is known internationally as a narco-state, but there are no narco-states, only narco-governments,” Pineda said. (I)
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